The City of Great Bend’s new Justice Center slated for completion in August and the long-standing Expo I and II buildings that were just transferred to city ownership by the Great Bend Chamber of Commerce are on the forefront for city officials.
As for the Justice Center at 12th and Baker, it is starting to take shape, both inside and out, Interim City Administrator Logan Burns said. The brickwork around the entrance area is underway and window installation will start Monday.
The building will house the Police Station and Municipal Court. Burns said Sheetrock installation has started in the court-side of the center, and will soon move to the police side.
In addition, the exterior covering of the structure is in place.
Ground was broken for the nearly $9 million, 20,000-square-foot facility on Sept. 12, 2022.
Great Bend voters in November 2021 approved a 0.10% sales tax to help fund a new facility. The city is also tapping about $1.5 million set aside for the project.
The cost came to $8,883,273, which exceeded the available revenues by $902,667. To cover that, the city will use COVID-19 relief Strengthening People and Revitalizing Kansas (SPARK) funds, insurance proceeds, and interest from federal COVID relief American Rescue Plan Act payments.
Wichita construction firm McCown Gordon is the project manager. GLMV Architecture of Wichita was selected as the architect.
The Expo buildings
The Great Bend Chamber of Commerce announced March 31 it would no longer manage the Expo buildings I and II at the Great Bend Expo Complex. Ownership was transferred to the City of Great Bend, Burns said.
Burns and other city officials did a walk-through of the buildings Monday morning. But, he said, what the city plans do with them and what the future holds requires more discussion.
“After careful consideration, the Chamber’s Board of Directors determined that owning and maintaining the buildings no longer aligns with the Chamber’s mission and is not financially feasible for the organization,” chamber President Megan Barfield said at the time.
The chamber built the buildings in the late 1970s and early 1980s to house the 3i Show, which brought positive revenue to further the chamber’s mission over the last 40 years. However, with no agriculture show and a focus on new initiatives within the strategic plan, the chamber is stepping back from the management of the buildings, she said.
